honorversefandomcom-20200223-history
Eloise Pritchart
Eloise Pritchart was a Havenite citizen, StateSec officer and politician, who from 1915 PD onward served as President of the Republic of Haven. Physical appearance At 160 centimeters tall gives her height as 175 centimeters; however, this is contradicted by OSH, which was published later and therefore overrides earlier canon., she "tipped the scales" at 55 kilos. (OSH) She had topaz-colored eyes, dark skin, and platinum-blonde hair. Thomas Theisman considered her the most beautiful woman he had ever met, while Sheila Thiessen considered her to have an 'inherent presence' that made everyone around her seem smaller than life. ( , , ) Biography Early Life Pritchart was born in Nouveau Paris on Haven in the 19th Century PD, and grew up in DuQuesne Tower, one of the worst of the Dolist slums. Her mother, Gabrielle, introduced her to the secret histories of Haven and Michèle Péricard's Republic before her death in a traffic accident when Eloise was in her early thirties. Eloise raised her much younger sister, Estelle, from then on. Roughly two decades later, she lost Estelle to street gang violence. Eloise had avoided joining any of the many revolutionary groups which existed on Haven out of the need to protect Estelle; however, after Estelle's death, she told her close friend Kevin Usher, whom she knew was involved with one of these groups, that she wanted in on the movement. This began her career as a revolutionary. (OSH) People's Republic & Theisman Coup She rose through the ranks to became a high-ranking member of the April Tribunal. Known as 'Brigade Commander Delta', she was regarded as one of the most effective guerrilla leaders opposing the Legislaturalists. She personally assassinated Secretary of War Carmouche and recruited Ninon Bourchier into the organisation. (RE) After the revolution, she realized that the Committee of Public Safety was going to sour swiftly on the demands of the April Tribunal and allowed herself to be co-opted to State Security as a People's Commissioner in order to avoid being purged. From around 1909 PD onward, she served as Javier Giscard's Commissioner. Though wary of each other at first, they soon began a romantic relationship, which they kept hidden throughout StateSec's reign by displaying only barely-restrained animosity and grudging respect for each other in public. ( , ) After Admiral Thomas Theisman overthrew Oscar Saint-Just, she became acting head of state of the People's Republic and oversaw its transition back to its original form as the Republic of Haven. She then won the subsequent election in a landslide, becoming the first Havenite head of state to be freely elected in generations. ( ) She was also the head of her party, the Constitutional Progressives. ( ) Presidency As President, it was Pritchart's mission to rebuild the struggling Republic and negotiate a lasting peace with the Star Kingdom of Manticore. She also had to deal with internal political troubles, most importantly her Secretary of State, Arnold Giancola, who eventually caused the resumption of hostilities and the beginning of the Second Havenite-Manticoran War. ( ) After evidence of Giancola's involvement in the manipulation of Havenite-Manticoran diplomatic mail was discovered, she tried her best to reach a ceasefire with Manticore and the resumption of peace talks. However, after the assassination attempt on Queen Berry of TorchOperation Rat Poison and the assassination of James Bowie Webster, Elizabeth III ordered the execution of Operation Sanskrit, a deep raid that caused the death of Javier Giscard in the Battle of Lovat. Having no time to mourn her lost love, Pritchart decided that a final, never before seen military strike had to be executed in order to bring a quick end to the war. She authorized Operation Beatrice, which led to the Battle of Manticore, the largest space battle in human history. Making this decision was extremely painful for her; she leaned heavily on Thomas Theisman, by then her most trusted friend as well as her Secretary of War, as she wrestled with the implications of such an offensive. ( ) Some time after the battle, Admiral Honor Harrington arrived in the Haven System as an envoy for Queen Elizabeth, and peace talks were held. However, they came to an abrupt stop when Harrington was recalled to the Manticore System after it had been hit by the Mesan Alignment's Operation Oyster Bay. Grand Alliance In May 1922 PD, Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki arrived on Haven with Herlander Simões, a Mesan defector who informed the President about the Alignment's secret plots, including Operation Rat Poison. Realizing that Mesa was the true enemy, and that it had used the distrust between her and Elizabeth III to weaken both their star nations before the upcoming confrontation with the Solarian League, Pritchart decided to act: she effectively shanghaied the key members of her Cabinet, including Secretary of War Theisman, Secretary of State Leslie Montreau, and Attorney General Denis LePic, and traveled to Trevor's Star aboard Haven One, where Honor Harrington took her to finally meet the queen in person aboard her flagship. Hours later, the two leaders chose to end the war and combine their remaining military power against their common enemies. ( ) In June 1922 PD, she along with Empress Elizabeth and Protector Benjamin signed a peace treaty ending the Second Manticore-Haven War; at the same time, she concluded a military alliance with Manticore and Grayson against the Solarian League. Critical personnel in the Grand Alliance, including Pritchart, were assigned treecat bodyguards; Pritchart's was Sharp Claw, whose personality was very similar to hers. ( ) During her visit she was a guest at the royal wedding of Crown Prince Roger Winton and Rivka Rosenfeld. ( ) She refused to consider a fourth term in office, even though many in the Republic were willing to amend the Constitution to enable her to run again. ( ) Relationships Javier Giscard Pritchart and Giscard first met when she was assigned as his People's Commissioner. Though he initially distrusted her due to her connections within the Committee and her cold, seemingly merciless public persona, they soon discovered that they shared a passion for the true Republic of Haven, and subsequently fell in love. She considered him to be "an outstanding man". ( ) They conducted their relationship under StateSec's noses for several years, playing the roles of opponents who shared nothing more than leashed animosity and grudging respect. Behind closed doors, however, they remained as passionately in love as ever, if not more so. ( ) The revelation of their relationship stunned the inner circle of those who would pull off the Theisman Coup. Though Pritchart, at least, could have escaped the approaching execution orders thanks to her connections in the Committee, she chose to stand by the man she loved; Lester Tourville noted that "Live or die, she and Giscard would fight to the last ditch together." ( ) After the fall of the Committee and the Theisman Coup, they were separated for long periods of time as Giscard assisted in mopping up renegade StateSec forces while Pritchart remained in Nouveau Paris. ( ) She was visibly stunned when Thomas Theisman brought her news of Giscard's death at the Battle of Lovat, but had no time to properly mourn him as the Havenite navy faced a renewed Manticoran onslaught in the form of Operation Sanskrit. ( ) Her grief for him did not abate, even well over a year after his death. Honor Harrington could empathically sense the pain Pritchart felt every time she thought of him, though she never openly displayed it in public and refused to allow her grief to break her. ( , ) Thomas Theisman Though they were known to each other by reputation previously, Pritchart and Thomas Theisman first met in the aftermath of the Theisman Coup which removed the Committee of Public Safety from power. Theisman demanded only one thing of her before giving her the post of acting President: that she demonstrate her loyalty to the pre-Legislaturalist Republic beyond question. ( ) She later noted that she was astounded to realise that he was absolutely committed to restoring Haven to its true self -- the very goal for which the Aprilist movement had come into existence -- and noted that, at least as regarded their hopes for their star nation, she was "as hopelessly romantic" as he. ( ) As the rebuilding of the Republic began, the two became extremely close both as colleagues and as friends. It was Theisman who brought her the news of Javier Giscard's death at Lovat; he later related that he had never seen her so stunned. ( ) In the precarious situation which dominated the ensuing civil war and rebuilding of the Republic, the two confided in each other when they could confide in no one else. After Giscard's death, Theisman and Pritchart became closer than ever; she leaned heavily on him as she agonised over the decision to launch Operation Beatrice, which resulted in the First Battle of Manticore and brought an end to the active hostilities of the Second Havenite-Manticoran War. ( ) Theisman was a key member of the group that accompanied her on her mad, midnight dash to the Manticore System, and alongside her was a key architect of the peace treaty that formed the Grand Alliance. ( ) Kevin Usher Pritchart's friendship with Kevin Usher dated back to before her revolutionary career in the April Tribunal. It was Usher to whom Eloise turned after the death of her sister Estelle, and he taught her self-defense and ultimately introduced her into the revolutionary group he was already a part of. (OSH) During their time in the April Tribunal they were occasionally lovers, a relationship which ended once they both fell in love with other people. However, at the time of the Theisman Coup and its immediate aftermath, he was nevertheless -- almost certainly accurately -- considered by outside intelligence sources to be her closest friend. ( ) References Pritchart, Eloise Pritchart, Eloise Pritchart, Eloise Pritchart, Eloise Pritchart, Eloise